Device or apparatus for sorting or distributing coins.



A Y G. R. DBNTQN. DEVICE 0R APPARATUS FORSGBTING 0R DISTRIBUTING COINS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 25, 1910.

Patented Man?, 1911.

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mfnNToN. l DBVIGBOB. APPARATUS FOR SORTING 0B DISTRIBUTING COINS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.. Z5, 1910. l

'Patent-,ea Mar. 7, 1911'.

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Gr. R. BENTON. DEVICE 0R APPARATUS POB SORTING 0R DISTRIBUTING COINS. APPLIoATIoN rum) M1125, 1910.

985,789. Patented Man?, 1911.

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lUNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

GEORGE RICHARD DENTON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

DEVICE OR APPARATUS FOR SORTING OR DISTRIBUTING- COINS.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE RICHARD DENTON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at City Road, London, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Device or Apparatus for Sorting or Distributing Coins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus by which coins of various denominations may be automatically separated and delivered into separate receptacles, the weight of the coins being mainly relied on and utilized as the means for operating the devices by which the coins are so separated, as distinguished from coin sorting apparatus which relies wholly or mainly upon the varying diameters of the coins as the factor for effecting distribution.

In my improved distributing apparatus the coins of differing diameters but composed of like metal or of metal of like speciic gravity travel by gravity in a vertical position, resting on their circular edges, through spaces formed between a pair of vertical plates, and in so traveling pass over balanced gates on to which the appropriate coins are deflected by superjacent curved stationary surfaces. A coin of a specific weight will rock and open one gate and descend a chute, while a coin of another weight will pass over that gate and rock another gate and pass down another chute, and so on. With such mechanism however it is possible that when a coin of greater size and consequently of greater weight is followed by a coin of lesser size and weight, and this so closely that the coin of lesser size may be in edge contact or nearly so with the coin of greater size, the coin of greater size rocks the gate and passes through, but before that coin has sufficiently passed through to allow the gate to again close, the lesser coin enters the opened gate and likewise passes through. In the novel combinations of parts hereafter claimed the lesser coin is prevented passing through the gate opened by the preceding coin of larger size.

The accompanying drawings show my improved distributing apparatus as arranged to receive the'coins from a cash till which I have heretofore constructed, and in which horizontal parallel shafts carrying sprocket wheels are connected by endless chains, which latter carry longitudinal bars passing between parallel plates spaced apart to per- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led March 25, 1910.

Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

serial No. 551,509.

l mit of the passage of the bars and to retain the coins resting thereon with their faces vertical, so that as a bar passes down between the plates and around the lower sprocket wheel the coins are allowed to fall therefrom into the distributer which I will now more particularly describe.

Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of the distributing apparatus with the lower portion of the cash till before mentioned. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation showing the right-hand portion of Fig. 1 on a somewhat larger scale, and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section showing the feeding device of the cash till before mentioned and also illustrating the upper part of the distributing device forming the subject-matter of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a detail view drawn to a larger scale of a portion of Fig. 2 showing the balance and separator device, and Fig. 5 is a rear view ofthe same part. Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view of the balance and Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken on the line X, Y of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the coins to be sorted and which may consist of several sized disks, are fed in between two vertically arranged plates B0 and 3l and enter spaces formed between those plates as will be hereafter described. The said coins may be passed between those two plates 30 and 31 either by hand or fed in in any other convenient manner, but in the drawings the said coins are allowed to fall in between the said two plates from a till, which is mechanically operated and which I have heretofore constructed, but which forms no part of this invent-ion. In this till there are two plates 6 and 7 held by any suitable framework at a distance apart to permit of the passage of coins and to retain the coins with their faces vertical, and when the coins are passed in between these plates they rest upon bars 15 which form shelves, and the bars are carried at distances apart by endless chains 14 carried by sprocket wheels mounted on revoluble parallel horizontal shafts 12, 13, and the bars 15 are carried by the chains through the space 16 betweenl the plates 6, 7 as shown at Fig. 2, and as the lowermost bar 15 passes around the lower sprocket wheel, the coins are allowed to fall between the plates 30 and 31 of the distributing device which forms the subject of this invention.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the spaces into which the coins pass are formed by recesses which are made in the rear plate 30, which is covered by the plate 31. The portion which is shown at Fig. 1 by the front plate 31 being broken away is that portion of the distributing device which is intended to receive the copper coins, viz., pennies, halfpennies and farthings, and by a description of this portion the like spaces for the reception of silver and other coins and apparatus connected therewith (all of which are similar) will be readily understood.

Supposing a distributing apparatus to be combined with such a cash till as described, then the copper coins indicated by the dotted circles at the upper part of Fig. 1 will, upon the bar 15 being removed, fall into the recess 32, which recess is of sufficient width to easily receive a thick coin but is not sufficient to allow one coin to passbehind the other, and the coins fall upon the inclined bed 33 and roll by gravity down the same to fall through the space 34 and travel through the passage 35, being guided thereinto by the curved surface 36.

From the passage 35 there extends three downwardly extending passages 37, 38 and 39 to carry away respectively the pennies, half-pennies and farthings, and the lower ends Iof these passages open into a box or the like divided so that the pennies passing down the passage 37 pass into one compartment 40, the half-pennies passing down 38 fall into a compartment 41, and the fai-things passing down the passage 39 fall into a compartment 42.

The formation of the upper wall of the passage 35 adjacent to the upper mouth of the passage 37, and the means by which the mouth of the passage 37 is controlled, I will further describe with reference to Figs. 4 to 7.

Above the mouth of the passage 37, the upper wall of the passage 35 has a downwardly inclined curve 35X, which as the penny strikes it on its downward passage diverts that coin on to a balanced gate 43, which controls the opening into the passage 37 ,1 and also directs the penny to a movable toe-piece 44 which co-acts with the balanced gate 43 which extends through a slot 43X in the plate 30. Both the toe-piece 44 and the gate 43 form the balances through which the penny is to be admitted to the passage 37, while the halfpennies and farthings are to be caused to pass on. The balanced gate 43 consists of a blade extending through the slot 43X in the back-plate 30, the blade being formed with an extension 45 (Figs. 6 and 7) and supported so as to be capable of freely rocking by means of center pins 46 (Fig. 6) carried at the back of the plate 30, and 47 is a screw by which the balance can be adjusted so that the gate 43 will tilt with the weight of the lightest penny. The toe-piece 44 is fixed to the end of one arm 48 of a two-armed lever pivoted at 49 to the back of the plate 30 (F ig.,5), the other arm 50 acting as a counter-weight, and the toepiece 44 extends and is movable through a slot 51 in the plate 30. The arm 50 is additionally controlled by a delicate spring 52, the pressure of which upon the arm 50 is adjustable by means of an arm 52 when the screw 54 is loosened, and the adjustment of this spring 52 is of considerable importance to the o eration of the device, and it must be so at justed that it offers little or no resistance at the commencement of the motion of the toe-piece 44 in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 4), and then the resistance of the spring 52 to the motion of the toe-piece will increase as the toe-piece nears the end of the slot, and the main ofhce of this spring is to insure a quick return of the toe-piece after it has been moved toward the end of the slot. It will be observed that the upper curved surface 35X of the passage 35, which deflect-s the penny on to the toe-piece and balance, is continued somewhat lower than the continuation of the upper surface of the passage 35, and the object of this small continuation is to prevent any possibility of the coins rebounding. The opening to the passage 38 for the half-pennies is cont-rolled by a precisely similar mechanism, while the passage for the farthings is free.

Vith this apparatus, suppose the coins are in the order shown by the circles of Fig. 2, and then are delivered to the dissector, the result would be that the penny will first pass through the space 34 immediately ,followed by the half-penny which may even be in contact with the edge of the penny. As the penny travels through the passage 35, it will Contact with the curved surface 35x and will be retarded thereby as well as directed onto the toe-piece and the balanced gate. The toe-piece will immediately be traveled back in its slot, and the gate will rock on its pivots 46 and allow the penny to pass into the opening of the passage 37, where it will contact with the curved surface 37x as it passes down.

So long as any portion of the penny lies over the edge of the gate 43, it will be understood that it is impossible for the gate to return to its normal position, that is to the position shown at Fig. 7, and if the halfpenny which follows the penny is in edge contact therewith, it would be possible for the half-penny to follow the penny past the gate (by the gate not being allowed to rise) excepting' for the action ofthe toe-piece 44, and the parts are so proportioned that the penny rst releases the toe-piece, that is, as the penny passes the gate, the point of the toe-piece is in contact with the periphery of the penny, and before the penny has completely passed the gate, that is before it has allowed the gate to rise, the point of the .toe-piece leaves the periphery of the penny and kicks the periphery of the halfpenny, the toe-piece t-hus assuming the position relatively to the two coins as shown at Fig, 4 of the drawings, where two such coins areindicated by dotted lines, the half-penny being in the passage 35 and just kicked by the toe-piece ta while the penny is just leaving the balance. The kick of the toe-piece inipels thehalf-penny over the gate through which the penny passes, and the half-penny then travels over the farther surface of the passage 35 until it reaches the mouth of the passage 3S by which the half-penny is to pass, and then the gate and the toe-piece controlling the passage 38 act upon the halfpenny in the same way that the gate and toe-piece of the passage 37 acted upon the penny, and prevent the farthings following the half-penny, and consequently the farthings pass over and iind their way into the compartment 42, the half-pennies being deflected on to the mouth of the passage 38 by the curved surface 38X of the passage 35, in the same way that the pennies were deflected on to the mouth of the passage 37.

It will now be understood that if the whole of the mixed copper coins are simultaneously allowed to fall on to the inclined bed 33 (Fig. l) of the dissector, by the movement of the bar 15, those coins will be automatically sorted out into their respective denominations and separately deposited into the proper receptacles, one for each denomination.

Similar passages with controlling balances and toe-pieces are provided to receive the small and the larger silver pieces to sort or distribute those pieces, and such devices are similar to those which have been described for sorting the copper money, and accordingly further description would be but repetition.

It will be understood that instead of the coins being delivered from a bar such as 15,

the said coins may be passed into any suitable chute by which they are directed and guided into the space 32, and therefore that the distributing device need not necessarily be employed in conjunction with the cash till mentioned.

Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by patent is l. In a distributing apparatus for separating coins of differing diameters and of like specific gravity into their various denominations,-the combination with two vertical plates located face to face, having an inclined passage formed between them down which the coins to be sorted consecutively pass with their iiat surfaces vertical, said vertical plates also having downwardly passage for a coin of one value another` for another value and so on, these passages communicating at their upper ends with said inclined passage, and receptacles with which the lower ends of said downwardly extending passages respectively communicate, a pivoted gate located at the entrance to each of said downwardly. extending passages to partly close the same, and means for balancing said gate to permit a coin of predetermined weight opening said gate and dropping into the subjacent passage, of a toe-piece for each of said downwardly extending passages normally located adjacent to and in advance of said gate to complete the cont-rol of the entrance to the adjoining downwardly extending passage, and means adapted to assist in maintaining said toepiece in such position and to cause its quick return after being rocked aside by the passage of a coin and to prevent an immediately following coin of lesser weight passing through, substantially as set forth.

2. In a distributing apparatus for separat-ing coins of diering diameters and of like specific gravity into their various denominations,-the combination with two vertical plates located face to face, having an open-topped space formed between them to receive coins of different diameters, the bottom of said space being inclined toward one end to cause the coins to roll toward that end, said plates having also an inclined passage formed between them communicating at its upper end with the lower end of said open-topped space, through which inclined passage the coins consecutively pass from said open-topped space, and passages extending downward from said inclined passage, one passage for a coin of one value another for another value and so on, a receptacle at the lower end of each of said downwardly extending passages to receive the sorted coins, a pivoted gate located at the entrance to each of said downwardly extending passages to partly close the same, and means for balancing said gate to normally maintain the same in a position to partly close the subjacent passage and to permit a coin of predetermined weight opening said gate and dropping past the same; of a toe-piece for each of said downwardly extending passages normally located adjacent to and in advance of said gat-e to complete the control of the entrance to the adjoining downwardly extending passage, and a spring adapted to assist in maintaining said toe-piece in said position and to cause its quick return after being rocked aside by the passage of a coin and to prevent an immediately following coin of lesser weight passing through, substantially as set forth.

3. In a distributing apparatus for separating coins-of differing diameters and of extending passages formedbetweenthem, one t like specific gravity into their various denominations,the combination with two vertical plates located face to face, having an inclined passage formed between them down which the coins to be sorted consecutively pass with their fiat surfaces vertical, said vertical plates also having downwardly extending passages formed between them, one passage for a coin of one value another for another value and so on, these passages communicating at their upper ends with said inclined passage, a receptacle in communication with the lower end of said inclined passage, and receptacles with which the lower ends of said downwardly extending passages respectively communicate, of a pivoted gate located at the entrance to each of said downwardly extending passages to partly close the same, means for balancing said gate to permit a coin of predetermined weight opening said gate and dropping into the subjacent passage, a balanced lever for each of said downwardly extending passages, a projecting toe-piece formed on one end of said lever extending into the upper end of the subjacent passage in advance of and adjacent to said gate to complete the control of the entrance to said subjacent passage, a light spring adapted to assist in maintaining said toe-piece in said position and to cause its quick return after being rocked aside by the passage of a coin, and means for adjusting and regulating the tension of said spring, substantially as setforth.

t. In a distributing apparatus for separating coins of diiering diameters and of like specific gravity into their various denominations,-the combination with two vertical plates located face to face, having an inclined passage formed between rthem down which the coins to be sorted consecu- 'tively pass with their flat surfaces vertical,

said vertical plates also having downwardlyv extending passages formed between them, one passage for a coin of one value another for another value and so on, these passages communicating at their upper ends with said inclined passage, a receptacle for the coins oit lowest value in communication with the lower end of said inclined passage and receptacles with which the lower ends of said downwardly extending passages respectively communicate, a pivoted gate located at the entrance to each of said downwardly extending passages to partly close the same, and means for balancing said gate to permit a coin of predetermined weight opening said gate and dropping into the subjacent passage, the top of said inclined passage having curved surfaces to contact with the appropriate coins above the respective balanced gates; of a two-armed lever for each of said downwardly extending passages, a projecting toe-piece carried by one arm of said lever and extending into the upper end of the subjacent passage in advance of and adjacent to said balanced gate, the other arm of said lever being of such weight as to normally maintain said toe-piece in said position, a light spring acting on said weighted arm of said lever to cause said toe-piece to be quickly returned to its normal position after each movement thereof, and means for adjusting the tension of said spring, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE RICHARD DENTON.`

Witnesses:

THOMAS W. ROGERS, IVILLIAM A. MARSHALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

